Horizon Dairy Review & Giveaway

~~~THIS GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED~~~

About Horizon Dairy!

Information from website.

At Horizon™ we are committed to supporting the health of families and our planet with delicious, innovative, responsibly produced organic and natural dairy foods. Founded in 1991, Horizon is a pioneer in the organic industry, and we were the first company to supply organic milk nationally. We are proud to work with more than 500 organic family farms across the country. We are now expanding into natural foods as we continue our dedication to providing healthy options for families. Why do we do what we do? Because we believe everyone should be able to buy high-quality, great-tasting products that are produced with integrity.

Horizon™ began in 1991 with a small cooperative of organic dairy farms. Our founders helped pioneer the organic industry and played an important role in developing the national organic standards. Today Horizon is the nation's leading brand of certified organic milk. Our company dairy farms have led the industry in organic practices and we work with more than 500 family farms across the US. Since the beginning, we’ve helped convert hundreds of thousands of acres to sustainable, organic farmland. Family farms supply 90% of our milk; the remaining 10% comes from our company farms.

Our Family Farms

Family Farmers have always been at the heart of Horizon. Our community of family farms spans the country, and we are helping many more farms transition to organic practices. The Horizon Organic® Producer Education (HOPE) program, founded in 2001, encourages family farmers to convert to organic production and supports them in this process through education, scholarships and financial support.

Stanley Martin spent his childhood on a dairy farm and returned to dairying last year. Stanley, his wife Carla and their three children all do their part on the farm. Stanley's secret to keeping things running smoothly? Advice from fellow organic farmers and good common sense.

Dairy farming runs deep in the Schilter family's roots. Tony Schilter's father was a dairyman who emigrated from Switzerland, and Tony and his wife Sunny began Sun-Ton in 1967. Their son Lonny and his wife Michelle are now raising their three children at Sun-Ton, with high hopes that farming will stay in the family.

Our Company-Owned Farms

Our Idaho and Maryland dairies have led the industry in establishing best practices for organic stewardship. They serve as learning centers in the area of holistic land management. We are proud to partner with experts such as Allan Savory of Holistic Management International and renowned soil scientist Jerry Brunetti to explore and refine best organic practices.

Our Idaho Farm

Certified organic in 1994, our farm in Paul, Idaho is considered revolutionary. It was the first large certified organic dairy in the country. The practices pioneered there proved the viability of organic dairying, and paved the way for hundreds of other dairies to convert to organic. Our Idaho farm - which helps prevent two million pounds of pesticides, herbicides and fertilizer from entering the area every year - has inspired many neighbors to convert their farms to organic, further improving the environmental health of the Snake River Aquifer region. For more information, visit HorizonOrganicFacts.com

Our Maryland Farm

Our dairy in Kennedyville, Maryland, was certified organic in 1998. Located on the sensitive Chesapeake Bay waterway, our farm has turned previously mismanaged land with dangerously high phosphorous levels into permanent organic pasture. Our Maryland farm has inspired many neighbors to convert their farms to organic, further improving the environmental health of the Chesapeake Bay region. For more information, visit HorizonOrganicFacts.com

Animal Welfare

At Horizon™, we believe compassionate animal care is a fundamental principle of organic dairy. None of our organic-certified animals are given antibiotics or added growth hormones. Instead, we keep them healthy by providing organic pastures for grazing, holistic medical care, a wholesome diet and clean, comfortable living conditions. In return, the cows produce delicious, organic milk, the foundation for our great-tasting organic dairy products. For more information on our Standards of Care, visit HorizonOrganicFacts.com

Our Horizon Dairy Experience!

We love cheese! We do eat a lot of cheese because it's the perfect fat/protein snack as well as adding it to various meals. Eating organic cheese has recently became a big priority in the last few months for our family. Did you know that it takes an average of 8 gallons of milk to make a pound of cheese? I had no clue until I read about it in Jillian Michael's, "How to Master Your Metabolism" book. Michael's also discusses the utmost importance of consuming organic dairy. If you are eating/drinking dairy from cows who were treated with hormones then think of the concentration of those hormones you are consuming from the products that were made from these cows? After I read about the studies and information in this book I choose organic dairy 100% of the time now.

Horizon Diary was very generous and sent us a few coupons to try out their various products. We tried out several of their cheeses including the Low Fat Cottage Cheese, Shredded Cheese, Mozzarella String Cheese and Colby Cheese Sticks. All of these products are so good! Nothing beats organic food and it always tastes better than "regular stuff". Obviously organic dairy is no exception when it comes to taste. Our favorite product was the Colby Cheese Sticks and that is just because I prefer the taste of colby cheese over most other varieties. 

On our trip to Branson, MO a couple weeks back (yes I am working on that blog post too) I packed a 3 pack of the milk boxes for Ethan to drink. He always drinks goat milk, but the boxes were so convenient for travel. He really enjoyed the cows milk and I don't think he missed his goat milk one bit. I will definitely be picking up more of these for our next trip. Since I'm talking about the Horizon milk I have to tell you that you must play the Milk Shake Game on Horizon. It is lots of fun and so adorable!  

We loved trying out the various Horizon Dairy cheeses and look forward to trying out more of their products as well. 

BUY IT! You can use the store locator to find Horizon Dairy products near you. Don't forget to sign up for their coupons before you head to the store. I believe we need to take advantage of any coupons available for organic products. The more we use, the more companies will offer them for us!

WIN IT! Horizon Dairy is giving away 1 Gift Bag valued $75 to Take Time to Smell the Rose reader! The Gift Bag includes: 10 free product coupons ($50 value), 2 reusable shopping bags, signature water bottle, Horizon t-shirt, insulated lunch box, and several childrens toys (rubik's cubes, silly straws, etc).    

You have the chance to enter several entries by the doing the following. Each one counts as 1 entry unless otherwise specified. I am now making it a requirement to follow my blog publicly on Google Friend Connect to enter my giveaways.

• MANDATORY ENTRY(You also must be following my blog publicly on Google Friend Connect)-counts as 1: AND Look around at Horizon Dairy to see what they offer. Tell me what product(s) AND recipe(s) you would like to try. 

• Subscribe to my blog via email with Feedburner (on right side bar).
  

• Blog about my giveaway before June 16th, linking back to this giveaway. Leave the URL where you blogged.

• Did you earn the extra 10 entries for blogging & adding my button? Read here for details. Leave a comment for each entry below as "Qualified for 10 extra entries #1", "Qualified for 10 extra entries #2", etc. 

• Grab my  Take Time to Smell the Rose button. Leave URL where it is posted.

• Grab my Take Time to Share Your Giveaway Sunday button. Leave URL where it is posted.

• Grab my Healthy Living Event button. Leave URL where it is posted. 

• Follow Smell_the_Rose AND Horizon Dairy  on Twitter AND tweet about this giveaway. After initial "tweet" you may gain an extra entry each day. Limit 1 tweet a day.  Leave URL where you tweeted in your comment. 

• Sign up for Horizon Newsletter. FYI, make sure you check the special offers box so you will get coupons! 3 entries!

•  Like Horizon Dairy on Facebook and leave a message on their wall that I sent you.
  

• Make a comment on any non-giveaway Healthy Living Event post. (one comment per post- but unlimited posts). Click here to see the list of posts. There will be lots of non-giveaway posts throughout the month! One comment on a post can qualify for all giveaways.

Please copy and paste this for your tweets: 


Win a huge gift bag of #Organic products from @HorizonDairy and @Smell_the_Rose. Ends 6/28. #HealthyLivingEvent http://tiny.cc/HorizonDairy

**Leave your email on each comment. You must do this in order to win!**

Giveaway ends Monday, June 28, 2010 at 9:00 p.m.(CST) Winner will be drawn by the random number generator at Random.org and will be notified by email. Winner will also be announced on this blog. Winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be drawn.

This giveaway is open to USA residents ONLY . Must be 18 years old or older to win.

Thank you to the Company or/and PR firm who provided me with the products mentioned in the review. The thoughts and opinions expressed on my blog are my own and are not swayed by any monetary or product compensation. My personal health experiences may not be a typical result for others. The information I share on my blog may not be the views of the sponsors participating in my Healthy Living Event. 
 

~~~THIS GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED~~~